Green Party wins

It was a game many Houston Rockets' fans circled on the teams' calendar as their first "can't miss game of the season". Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reporters leading up to Tuesday that games in November matter as much as games in April due to playoff implications. Newspapers and local radio hosts hyped Tracy McGrady as the new Kevin Garnett in terms of having some success in the league, but never being able to get a ring. All of that led to Tuesday's nights game matching the Houston Rockets against the Defending World Champions, Boston Celtics.

Toyota Center was scattered with empty seats throughout the lower and upper bowls, which is disappointing since this is the Celtics' only stop through Houston this season. Anytime a team is facing the Champs the arena should be packed! This was also a NBATV game, so disappointing to see the low attendance. This of course probably had to do with the Election and whatnot, but what else can a basketball game offer having two of the top tier teams in the NBA going at it?

The game itself was a great one. Both teams played physical ball for 48 minutes. However--the Rockets were the team to make more errors and more missed shots. The Big 3 for Boston combined for 46 points (not overly impressive), but Ray Allen scored 29 of those 46 as he literally quieted the crowd and Rockets' fans watching at home by nailing shot after shot, from mid-range to long range in the final quarter.

3 main things that killed the Rockets in this game:

-Shooting percentage. Yao Ming missed point blank shots (including a couple easy dunks) as he went 4-14. Ron Artest scored 15, but shot a dismal 3-16 from the court.

-Rebounding. The Celtics only out-rebounded the Rockets by 5 on the game, but if you watched the the game it felt like the Celtics dominated the boards (especially on the offensive side). Boston's defense limited the Rockets to one shot and out for the majority of the game.

-Yao. Something appeared to be wrong with the big man as he had a bad night. He constantly let Kendrick Perkins get open and hit mid-range shots. Sure Perkins is not known to be a shooter, but after he hit 2 consecutive wide open shots Yao should have guarded him the 3rd and 4th times he nailed open shots. Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Perkins just seemed to have their way with Yao. The big man looked fatigue out there. I'm sure Yao will play better as soon as Thursday's game against Portland, but his bad play really hurt the Rockets in this one.

3 things the Rockets and fans can be positive about:

-The score. The Rockets shot 39 percent from the court. Yao and Artest had bad shooting nights and the team still only lost by 4 points to the defending Champions. That's something every Rockets fan can be happy about despite the loss.

-Luis Scola. Everyone following the Rockets or the NBA in general knows Luis Scola has played pretty good basketball last season and the first few games of this campaign. The Argenti was one of the few Rockets with good shooting nights going 9-15 for 21 points and hustling for 9 rebounds. Scola is a break-out caliber player for this team and he showed why on Tuesday night.

-Aaron Brooks. Brooks only went 4-9 for 12 points in the game, but he scored 5 pivotal points during the 2nd quarter in which the Celtics were going on a big run. The Rockets fed off Brooks' points and went on a run of their own taking the lead briefly. Brooks is a big part coming off the bench for this team. I was close to putting McGrady on this list, but he's known for having big games, etc. Tracy went 9-18 for 26 points. The Rockets need T-Mac to stay consistent and healthy throughout the season.